(GRAHAM) -- Alamance County authorities continue to investigate and search for suspect in the Tuesday morning crash of a stolen airplane. The Piper PA32 was taken from Horace Williams Airport in Chapel Hill.

"I've been in this business I think close to 41 years and its the first stolen plant that I've worked," said Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson.

No one was on board the plane when it was discovered around noon on Tuesday. "I've never seen a plane damaged this much and someone walked away," added Sheriff Johnson.

He said that an individual known to hang around the Horace Williams Airport is being considered as a suspect.  Investigators followed a blood trail from the plan and hope to use DNA to link the individual, who authorities have not identified, to the theft.

Larry Warren of Efland owns the plane and said he last saw it around 8:30 Monday night. "The last time I flew it was Sunday but it had two full tanks of gas, so it was probably good for five hours of flying," said Warren.

One of the two fuel tanks was empty and the other was still full.  Warren believes it is possible that the suspect ran the one tank dry and did not know how to switch to the other one.